Peak Golden Immortal

Meng Chen stood like an ancient deity at the Spacetime Anchor Point, his jet-black silky hair billowing behind him, radiating his confidence.

He watched the ebb and flow of the River of Fate, countless insights arising in his heart.

Every wave in the River of Fate was a person's life—their life and death, fortune and misfortune, poverty and wealth, marriage and fate... all contained within it.

Yet, the River of Fate was not fate itself. The fate projected by the River of Fate was merely what the river could bear.

What a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could transcend was only the River of Fate itself, not true fate, for true fate was the union of the human heart with the heavens, earth, and cosmos.

Between heaven and earth, people were not their own masters, and fate was greater than both heaven and earth.

The human heart determined the choices of living beings; the heavens, earth, and cosmos provided the direction of those choices; and the myriad changes within the cosmos, or even beyond heaven and earth, became the interfering variables of fate.

This did not mean that every choice in life would succeed or reach its end.

A Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal might think that by transcending the River of Fate, they had mastered their own destiny, and so begin plotting to attain sainthood or achieve Chaotic Origin. But as long as Ancestor Hongjun did not permit it, all their schemes were futile—their end would be nothing but a pile of ashes in a kalpa catastrophe.

Except for the strongest, no one could shake off the interference of external forces, let alone master their own fate.

"All living beings, heaven and earth, saints, the Dao Ancestor, Pangu... all are shrouded by fate. Even the mightiest, Pangu, was under fate's shadow. What set him apart was that he could choose and decide his own destiny."

Then, Meng Chen understood.

The moment he comprehended the Law of Destiny, the Spacetime Anchor Point fully merged with his body, becoming one, never to leave him again.

Rustle!

The instant before his cultivation was about to advance, he returned to the Jade Void Palace.

Seeing Meng Chen break through again, Yuanshi Tianzun's expression was somewhat numb.

It wasn't that he thought Meng Chen's consecutive breakthroughs would lead to an unstable foundation—foundation meant the Dao Foundation. Meng Chen had comprehended the Nine Great Divine Powers he had created, so his foundation was as solid as could be.

Yuanshi Tianzun simply felt that with a disciple who grasped things so quickly, he, as the teacher, had no sense of accomplishment.

It was like a mass of merit—no matter whose hands it fell into, it was still merit. Whether the owner was a mortal or a saint didn't affect the value of the merit itself.

Of course, Yuanshi Tianzun was just being a bit of a show-off; he wasn't truly without a sense of achievement.

Without his protection and guidance, Meng Chen could never have achieved this. Cultivating in the presence of a saint was itself a tremendous opportunity.

After all, a saint was almost synonymous with the Dao itself. An ordinary immortal need only glance at a saint, visualize their form, and their cultivation would soar.

Now, Meng Chen had received personal instruction from Yuanshi Tianzun, who also used his saintly power to provide energy for Meng Chen's cultivation. Such excellent conditions would drive even great powers like Old Ancestor Styx and Zhen Yuan Great Immortal wild with envy.

As Yuanshi Tianzun was showing off, Meng Chen continued his breakthrough.

The aura of the Law of Destiny appeared on Meng Chen, and the divine radiance of destiny blazed upon him, illuminating all heavens and reaching the ten directions of the universe. Within his Middle Thousand World, the Spacetime Anchor Point descended, and from it flowed a gentle stream of Fate Power.

Meng Chen had only just comprehended the Law of Destiny, so his control over it was still unrefined. Yet, the Law of Destiny was the Law of Destiny—with it, he could combine the Law of Destiny with the River of Time to condense the River of Fate.

A Middle Thousand World that possessed the River of Fate was no longer a Middle Thousand World; it would transform into a Great Thousand World.

The grade of a world was never measured solely by its spatial size. To be precise, spatial size was not the only indicator of a world's rank.

A Small Chiliocosm had singular time and space, making it the lowest kind of world. Such worlds were typically Dharma-Ending Worlds.

A Middle Thousand World used the River of Time to connect different times, so time was no longer singular. The existence of the River of Time endowed the space of a Middle Thousand World with the passage of years.

A Great Thousand World, through the existence of the River of Fate, would cause a fundamental transformation of time and space in a Middle Thousand World, breaking the singularity of time and space. Living beings would no longer be isolated individuals; they would possess other selves.

Meng Chen's breakthrough this time was earth-shattering. Even from the Grand Purity Palace and the Biyou Palace, the soaring celestial phenomena above the Jade Void Palace were visible.

Meng Chen had cultivated the Law of Destiny, and his inner world had advanced from a Middle Thousand World to a Great Thousand World.

The River of Fate trembled, emerging from the void. A rain of colorful petals fell, as if celebrating a rising star who had cultivated to Peak Golden Immortal.

Meng Chen's massive Azure Dragon Avatar appeared above the Jade Void Palace. The azure dragon spanned heaven and earth, as if vying with the River of Fate for supremacy. Its majestic dragon might radiated outward, drawing the worship of all beasts on Kunlun Mountain.

Sage Laozi and Master Tongtian observed the celestial phenomena at the Jade Void Palace, disbelief flashing in their eyes.

How long had it been? He had already reached Peak Golden Immortal—was Meng Chen really this fierce?

Master Tongtian then looked at Daoist Duobao, whom he had favored, and suddenly found him unimpressive. He had originally thought that even if Duobao wasn't as good as Meng Chen, he wasn't far behind.

But now, Duobao couldn't compare to Meng Chen at all. They were like people from two different worlds. In front of Meng Chen, Duobao had become a waste.

Sage Laozi, however, had no such thoughts of comparison.

Whether it was Meng Chen or Duobao, both were disciples of Xuanmen, juniors of the Three Pure Ones. Meng Chen's excellence brought honor to the Three Pure Ones.

The three brothers were renowned throughout the Primordial Wilderness. If their juniors were all just immortal second-generation scions who flaunted their status as saint disciples, the three brothers would lose face.

"Excellent. My Teaching has worthy successors. As long as this child Meng Chen grows up, he will surely be able to uphold the gate of My Teaching."

Sage Laozi was very pleased. In his delight, he entered the alchemy room to prepare some pills.

Since Yuanshi Tianzun and Master Tongtian had taken disciples, he, as the Eldest Senior Brother, should express his goodwill.

After Meng Chen's successful breakthrough, the celestial phenomena above the Jade Void Palace gradually faded, and Meng Chen withdrew from his cultivation state.

Peak Golden Immortal—this was the highest realm he could currently reach. His Dao conduct was still insufficient to break through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Even so, he was very satisfied.

At the very least, his position as Eldest Senior Brother was secure. Even if everyone else joined forces, he was confident he could suppress them.

"Teacher helped this disciple break through; this disciple has no way to repay you!"

Meng Chen performed a solemn bow.

Yuanshi Tianzun hadn't charged him tuition, freely teaching him Daoist arts and helping him break through—this was a tremendous kindness. Though Meng Chen was somewhat profit-driven, he understood the principle of repaying kindness.

Yuanshi Tianzun was very pleased with Meng Chen's performance. He waved his hand and said something startling: "If you want to repay your teacher, then quickly attain the Zenith Heaven Dao and take over the affairs of My Teaching."